****** have seen the Mt Riley Paretai and heard that `06 Kim Crawford is here in town finally.

Sweat pea is good. I used that descriptor for the aroma of a sauvignon blanc last night. It was the Saint Clair Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006, which I had the opportunity to taste again, much to my pleasure. Here's my note.

Saint Clair Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006 - brightly aromatic with sweet pea on nose. Light textured, dancing zest on palate. Apple, grapefruit, passionfruit with a twist of lime to the finish and a long lingering aftertaste which is just like the nectarine I ate this afternoon. 13% alc. Screwcap closure. NZ$16.99.

BTW - Paretai is Matua Valley's top wine - nothing to do with Mount Riley. Looking forward to your feedback on the Kim Crawford Marlborough SB 2006. Prepare to be wowed all over again.

Sue Courtney wrote:Mark, If you like the flamboyant style of savvie (I do) you should also hunt down Astrolabe Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc - both 2005 and 2006 are very good, although I think the 2005 was marginally better. Simon Waghorn is Whitehaven's winemaker, but the Astrolabe is Simon's personal label. BTW - Michael Cooper is not an MW.

Cheers,Sue

Thanks for the information, Sue. It appears (from wine-searcher) that Astrolabe may not make it over to the US, in which case I'll have to save it for my next trip to NZ. As for Mr. Cooper: erk! I certainly bow to your knowledge of all things antipodean, so I suppose that I was conflating him with Bob Campbell.

Down here in Oregon we got the Kim Crawford '06 about 2 months ago. It was the best from them that I have tasted. We also just got the Villa Maria '06 Private Bin. I tasted it last night for the first time. I think that it is very good competition for the KC. We are still on the '05 Marlborough from St. Clair. We are due to get the '06 Matua Paretai in the next few weeks.

My understanding is that the '06 NZ vintage is supposed to be really special. Of course this is where Sue is meant to chime in. Cuing Sue.....

.....we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. A. Lincoln

James,
I like sauvignon blanc anyway unlike some of my friends who can't stand the stuff, but there are some 06 savvies that are simply superb. The best have exciting aromatics as well as vibrant, juicy, fruity and mouth-awakening flavours, but even some that are are a little subdued on the nose are still pretty exciting to the taste. But you have to pick and choose carefully because there is still plenty of swill around, the wines that hang on the coat tails of the success stories, the wines made for the mass market.

As I've said before, any sauvignon blanc with Saint Clair on the label from 2006 should be in the very very good to excellent category and those from Marlborough with the Kim Crawford moniker too too. Saint Clair has about 10 labels as they now make a lot of single vineyard 'Pioneer Block' wines. although very small production. Ditto Kim Crawford, with their 'SP' range, which means 'Small Parcels'.

You will also know that I am a fan of Matua Valley 'Shingle Peak' 2006 as well, and in NZ they now have a Matua Valley 'Shingle Peak Reserve' Sauvignon Blanc 2006, as well as the stunning top of the range Matua Valley 'Paretai'.

.....we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. A. Lincoln

Neil Courtney wrote:James, it is now 9:53am and we have a birthday party BBQ to go to in a couple of hours.

Damn Neil, I didn't say what she was going to do there!

.....we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. A. Lincoln

The NOSE was quite developed and perfumed with rich gooseberry and cassis notes. As I have often found with Kiwi SB, the PALATE seems more subdued than the nose (is this cunning work with synthetic yeasts?) but is crisp, refreshing and quite long with some soft tenderness in mid palate offset by more crispness on the finish. Quite one dimensional on the palate at first but filling out as the wine warmed.

Very enjoyable but unremarkable. I need to check how this compares as QPR with the SB based Château Bonnet which sells here for about EUR 1 less.

Kiwi wine is not easy to find in Belgium. The famous Cloudy Bay is fairly widely available at around EUR 25 last time I looked. There is a specialist importer from boutique New World (+ Spanish) wineries who has a good selection but his prices are so high that they make most Sancerre seem a steal.

Southbank is not a name I am familar with Tim. Guess google search coming up!!
Its funny really, here I am with 8 cases of mixed whites in the cellar, its bl....dy cold here, and I am opening newly released SBs from NZ. KC tomorrow, followed by Allan Scott.

Well, just cracked the `06 KC. Delicious and top notch but feel that Matua Valley Shingle Peak `05 has the edge this time around. Just found some more here in town (Mike B Glenora Liquor if you are interested).

****** have seen the Mt Riley Paretai and heard that `06 Kim Crawford is here in town finally.

WTN: `06 Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc, Marlborough.

I am really undecided as to which is the (hum) better wine here?!! One previous taster thought there was more green peppers on the `06, I did not find that when served well chilled but agree it does show up when wine is warm sitting in the glass. I paid $22 Cdn for my bottle, SC of course and opened half hour.

Colour. Pale straw, no green. No real depth of colour here at all.

Nose. Grapefruit zest, grass, gooseberry and some tropical fruits.

Palate. Crisp bracing acidity, good length on the finish. Some tropical fruits here but apricot, gooseberry and other light citrus tones dominate. Passion fruit and some mineral qualities with lime. The sweetness comes from the trop fruits I guess? If too warm the citrus finish prevails with some capsiscums. This wine sure has all the SB characteristics of NZ and my notes do not differ too much from the `05 tasted last year.

Bob Parsons Alberta, in another thread, wrote:Reading your SB tasting notes, I am undecided about whether you prefer the`06 KC over the `05 Shingle Peak or vice-versa? For this NZ SB fanatic, think the `05 Peak has the edge. Will post my KC notes over on the Open Mike thread here

Bob,
They are different vintages and as most of my sauvignon blanc drinking is done on current vintage - or rather current release wines - because of availability and so on, I haven't actually compared the two together because they are a vintage apart.
I loved the Shingle Peak 05 over the downunder summer of 2005/2006 and it had a more memorable, vivacious edge over the KC 2005 (although both right up there).
And now I scream as I look back at my tasting notes as I see I don't even have a tasting note for the stock standard Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006 !!!!! I wonder how that happened as I only have one for the Kim Crawford 'Small Parcels' Spitfire Sauvignon Blanc 2006, which is very very good.

Good to see, from your note above, that there is consistency over the two years.

I look forward to tasting some '06s. I was not fond of most of the '05s I tasted, with the notable exception of the St. Clair and I guess the Whitehaven, which to me has a nose exactly like pink grapefruit. I've been off NZ SBs because of a bad experience at Johannishof in Marlborough, where the wine tasted like apple juice that had been used to cook asparagus. Hey, it got really great reviews--I'm just reporting on one experience with one bottle.

Anyway, the best parts of visiting NZ were discovering St. Clair pinot gris, which was fantastic, and Michael Hallet's Gimblett Gravels syrah. Gimblett is bizarre--it has those big round rocks, just like Chateauneuf...well, the Chard Farm pinots were pretty hip, too...

Bob Parsons Alberta. wrote:Thanks Sue, I did notice that there was no report on the regular bottling of the `06!! IYO, which SB from NZ is generally the dryest style, the Staedt Landt??

The driest? That's a hard question to answer. The Churton from Marlborough is always nearly bone dry and Sam Weaver, the Churton winemaker, consulted to Staetland for a while.
Dry River from Martinborough and Te Mata Woodthorpe from Hawkes Bay are almost always bone dry but most SB's have some residual sugar - where I have it recorded it ranges from about 2 grams per litre to about 5 grams per litre on average. You will find some a lot sweeter than that though, the more commercial styles in particular.

Sue, you mentioned flamboyance. Good word. I'd use it to describe the Mount Edison SB. Maybe it's because they're owned by Antinori? Whatever. The ones I've tasted have been positively baroque, with big sweet citrus fruit balanced by electrifying acidity.

Good one Dave!! No, I was using the "search" on the website and got redirected!!!!! I have just checked TNS on Saint Clair and no luck. Really desperate to locale a bottle in W Canada (groan). Should have recognized my error..vanilla!!! SB?

***BTW, I finally get a chance to taste the Paretai this evening at a downtown tasting. WS Top 100, eight wines I believe.

Another very good SB is the Villa Maria 2006 Private Bin. Here in Oregon it sells for $13.49. We just got into the 2006 vintage. It just seems to have a little more intensity of flavors than 2005 which was also excellent. For $10 we just got Oyster Bay 2006 in our market. It does not have the intensity or edge like the Villa Maria or Kim Crawford but for $10 it is very nice. In April the New Zealand Winegrowers are doing a NZ wine showcase up in Seattle. I am planning on going to it and should be able to taste some interesting wines. For this event they just have the wines set up by varietal but there are no reps behind the tables.